Fall 2025 — September 22-26
Have you ever wondered what seminary classes were like? Try a class (or 2 or 3) for FREE!
Join us for Visit BST Week from September 22-26. Each day we are offering 1-2 opportunities where you can experience theological education FREE of charge. The only requirement: you must REGISTER.
The following courses and experiences are available to choose from. Simply follow the instructions, click the button(s), and complete the registration form(s). We can’t wait to see you September 22-26!
Want to Visit In-Person and Tour Campus?
Make an Appointment with Lia
Come experience Berkeley School of Theology during Visit BST Week! We invite you to step onto our campus, meet our welcoming community, and see firsthand how BST can support your calling and equip you for ministry and leadership. This is your opportunity to ask questions, sit in on classes, and imagine yourself thriving here. We’re excited to meet you and help you discern your next steps.
Make an Appointment with Derek
During Visit BST Week, come meet our financial aid team and discover how affordable a seminary education can be. We’ll walk you through scholarships, grants, and flexible pathways that make pursuing your calling possible. Visiting campus is the best way to see how BST can support you—both academically and financially—as you prepare for ministry and leadership.
Lia Rochill
Derek Doughty
TRY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING CLASSES
MONDAY, 9/22
White Supremacy & the Bible
Monday 12:40-2:00pm (Hybrid)
The Bible has been used throughout the centuries to create, support, and sustain the institutions of white supremacy, racism, and slavery as well as the colonization of the world by euro-centric powers. This course will survey the history of biblical interpretation that under-girds the movements mentioned above as a means of stimulating new ways of thinking about and interpreting the Bible for a contemporary inter-cultural and inclusive society. This course will survey the history of biblical interpretation that under-girds the movements mentioned above as a means of simulating new ways of thinking about and interpreting the Bible for a contemporary inter-cultural and inclusive society.
LeAnn Snow Flesher
Paul Then and Now (BS-4805)
3:40-6:30pm (Hybrid)
As the first Christian documents, Paul’s letters offer a deep and illuminating insight into the study of Christian origins. Thus, analysis of the writings is essential to understanding the New Testament and the formation of Christianity. This course offers students an investigation into these documents from various interpretive perspectives. Special attention will be given to later Christian (mis)interpretations of Paul and his late Second Temple Jewish context.
Eric Sias
Mujeres en la Biblia - ELC Español
Lunes 5:00-8:00pm (Solo en línea)
Ofrecerá una mirada a las mujeres que se encuentran en la Biblia, tanto en el Antiguo como Nuevo Testamento. Las clases, lecturas y reflexiones destacarán el papel importante que las mujeres tuvieron en la Biblia y su importancia para una Iglesia saludable en la actualidad.
Fabio Colorado
TUESDAY, 9/23
Bible, Culture, Power & Justice (BSHR-4650)
12:40-3:30pm (Hybrid)
This advanced seminar will explore how culture, power, and justice affect the ways we read the Bible will draw on global readings of the Bible as well as intentionally contextual readings from the United States, including womanist, feminist, Asian-American, Latina, Black and other hermeneutical approaches. To deepen our understanding of how all interpretation is contextual, we will also consider readings from the dominant androcentric, North Atlantic strands of history of interpretation and engage ethnography of reading. We will consider and perform biblical interpretation as ethical activity.
Laura Jean Torgerson
Political Theology
Tuesday 3:40-5:00 (Hybrid)
We will begin with creating a Venn diagram. On one side of the diagram, we will take notice of liberation philosophy and on the other side, we will locate liberation theology. At the diagram’s center, we will locate Du Boisian (W.E.B. Du Bois) pragmatism. From this starting point, we will critique the neoliberal and neofascist political system in the United States and assert that it is representation of the global war of cultural domination of the 21st and 22nd centuries. We will also assert that the political economy is representation of global financial dominance (predatory capitalism). We will need to grasp how the democratic ideal and the ideals of justice are threatened and therefore, democracy is threatened. Still, these inform a theology of democracy.
Joseph Evans
Old Testament Speaks Today
Tuesday 5:10-8:00pm (Hybrid)
This course will provide a basic introduction to the study and message of the Old Testament. The successful student will have 1) acquired a socio-cultural and theological overview of the Hebrew Bible with focus on basic content, critical issues and exegetical and hermeneutical methodologies; as well as 2) developed a self-awareness concerning their/her/his own social location and its relationship to the reading, thinking, and doing of biblical, historical, and theological work; as well as 3) applied methods, theologies, and interpretations to contemporary social justice concerns. This course is for masters-level students. This course will be hybrid format.
Eric Sias
Teologia Constructiva - Maestria Español
Tuesday 6:10-9:00pm (Solo en línea)
Este curso ofrece una introducción a la teología filosófica a través del diálogo entre la fe y la razón. A lo largo del semestre, exploraremos preguntas fundamentales sobre la existencia de Dios, el problema del mal, la naturaleza de la fe, la racionalidad de las creencias religiosas y el lenguaje teológico. El curso presentará una variedad de enfoques clásicos y contemporáneos desde distintas tradiciones cristianas, fomentando un espacio de diálogo crítico, inclusivo y ecuménico. Las lecturas incluirán autores como Paul Tillich, William James, John Hick, C.S. Lewis, Alvin Plantinga y otros. No se requiere formación previa en filosofía.
Horacio R Da Valle
WEDNESDAY, 9/24
Liderazgo (LIEQ-403)
Lilliana DaValle, 6:00-8:30pm (Online Only)
En este curso los estudiantes podrán adquirir herramientas para ejercer liderazgo pastoral en la iglesia y comunidad. El acercamiento al liderazgo utiliza como base la inteligencia emocional y el pensamiento sistémico. El curso consiste en un estudio de liderazgo contextual y un análisis de seis tipos de liderazgo efectivo.
Faith & Society
5:10-8:00pm (Hybrid)
This course serves as an introductory exploration into theology and ethics, a mandatory course for MCL students. Throughout the semester, we will delve into five distinct topics—immigration, feminicide, racism, secularization, and animal rights—examining them on both global and local scales and exploring their intersection with religion to foster theological reflection. Classes will incorporate lectures, presentations, and discussions to engage with these complex issues.
Auditors with Faculty Permission.
Hanna Kang
THURSDAY, 9/25
Intercultural Leadership
2:10-5:00pm (Hybrid)
This course will address theories and practices for effective leadership in an intercultural context. We will consider biblical examples of leadership, the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership by Kouzes and Posner, and cultural intelligence as building blocks for developing intercultural leadership. Special attention will be paid to biblical and contemporary examples of leadership practices aimed at reconciling cultural dilemmas. Students will be encouraged to reflect on how they have been influenced by significant leaders while creating a plan for their own intercultural leadership development.
A. Brian Leander
Transformative Word
Thursday 7:10-9:40pm (Hybrid)
This introductory preaching course is designed to enable the students to learn the theoretical and practical elements of contemporary preaching from diverse traditions. There will be lectures, weekly writings, and discussions around topics related to today’s understanding of preaching in ever-changing contexts, and students will preach three sermons for the class.
Sangyil Sam Park
El libro de Job (LIEQ-200)
Fabio Colorado, 5:00-8:00pm (Online Only)
El Libro de Job es uno de los libros más interesantes y complejos del Antiguo Testamento. Escrito hace miles de años, el tema central sigue siendo presente: El sufrimiento. El personaje de Job y sus amigos debaten sobre el sufrimiento y como entender la relación entre sufrimiento y Dios. En este curso exploraremos el libro de Job en su contexto y en el contexto presente: ¿Tiene el libro de Job algo que decir sobre el sufrimiento actual? ¿Tiene el libro de Job una repuesta acerca del sufrimiento? ¿Qué pasa cuando a alguien “bueno” la pasan cosas malas? Todas estas preguntas recibirán nuestra atención a lo largo del curso.
FRIDAY, 9/27
Leading Diversity-Oriented Ministries (FTRS-3350)
10:30am-12:00pm (Hybrid)
As the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion further take hold in the Church in the United States, there will be a greater need for competent intercultural leaders. As with many other examples of effective leadership, leaders of diversity-oriented ministries must practice, preach, and live what they believe about diversity, equity, and inclusion of all kinds of people in keeping with the mission of Christ. The good news about intercultural leadership competencies is that they, through missiological praxis—reflection, self-awareness, shared learning experiences, application, and reflection–are accessible. Therefore, the Leading Diversity-Oriented Ministries Program aims to broaden and strengthen the intercultural competencies of church planters, pastoral leaders, ministry leaders, and higher education professionals. The program has the following objectives: (1) increase participants’ leadership capital; (2) equip them with knowledge, skills, tools, and experience; and (3) build capacity for their ministries to be diversity-oriented.
A. Brian Leander
Lessons from James Baldwin: Life, Love, Lies, Liberation (RS-3158)
12:40-3:30pm (Online Only)
James Baldwin, one of the leading figures of the 20th century, bore passionate witness to the truth about poverty, racism, religion, homophobia, and the struggle for justice in America. Throughout this course, we will read and discuss selected novels, short stories, essays, and video clips from his talks, as well as the documentary “I Am Not Your Negro,” and the movie based on his novel If Beale Street Could Talk. We will absorb the ether of Baldwin’s life—Pentecostalism and his beginnings as a boy preacher, the impact of discrimination, an artist exiled in Paris, the Civil Rights Movement, and Baldwin’s return to America—and see how his searing depictions of the realities forged in slavery and misogyny, Jim Crow laws, and lynching provide an education for understanding their legacies, as well as the urgent need for love and liberation in today’s world. Students will address the complexity of personal questions.
Aidsand Wright-Riggins
For further information or assistance with registration, contact the Director of Admissions, Lia Rochill at lrochill@bst.edu
